How to hybrid a road vehicle to do 100MPG Diesel

[docrocky]

Realizing this is a farm/tractor community, let me explain my motive. I am 75yo, retired, Viet Nam Vet, Army combat surgeon,(I think I sniffed Agent Orange) who would rather garden then walk a stupid golf course at 50 bucks a throw to smack that little white ball. I plant about 2 acres of almost all the vegetables and take the weekly pickings to 2 church kitchens, 1 convent, and 1 to 2 food banks to feed the needy. Of course my wife and I have to sample some of the produce for quality control. I did about 125 tomato plants this year and they did just great. I got a bad start this spring because the hydraulic pump in my Ford 8N went kaput and I spent a lot of time transferring the pump out of my burned out 9N. I also got great advice on repairing a Mott cutter-flailer, took almost forever when I wasn't hand watering because of a dry summer up here in Northern Ohio..
My dilemma is this. I live in town about 10 miles from my daughter's where I have the acreage and poll barn to work with. This is a 20 mile round trip six days a week from early April to last picking in mid October. My 2008 Dodge Ram 1500 is averaging about 12-to 15 MPG, since I do mostly back roads and drive with about 25 to 40 MPH max with few stop lights. Trying to improve my fuel consumption, I started trying to resurrect an old 1975 Triumph TR6 I bought 10 years ago at a junk auction, thinking this small 2 seater with a small 6 cylinder would do just fine when I didn't need the truck.. I just learned that it does no better than 14MPG from a knowledgeable source.
Years and years back (1982) I ran across an article in Mechanix Illustrated on "5 Reasons to Build URBA Centurion, one of which was "Gets up to 128 MPG on Diesel Fuel".
My challenge to you who farm and garden as I do a few miles daily away from home, is there a small road vehicle that a very small fuel efficient engine can be installed. Many suggest a motorcycle or moped but I need a 4 wheel vehicle and one that has a weather cover. Also has to be street legal for license. I was thinking of a YUGO (size) chassis or an old VW Rabbitt? Anyone have suggestions? What vehicles are readily available in the junk yards (salvage, if you please) that can be easily converted?
Thank You

 

[Renze]

1980's VW Rabbit did have the diesel (50hp) and turbodiesel (70hp) option, from a 1.5 liter engine.
In europe we also had a Daihatsu charade with 1.2 liter turbodiesel, and currently VW offers a Lupo 3L, which can achieve 100km on 3 liter of fuel. thats 77.6 miles to the gallon, and guess what ?? the supposed 3L per 100km is only achieved at track conditions, you cant achieve that in the real world.

Unless you have a couple of million R&D budget to spend, you're not going to achieve 100mpg. And with that money spent, you will never break even.

 

[mmurphy]

Product Development Design Consultancy New Project Engineering Do It Yourself DIY Plans

Here is a site that may be of interest to you. I wanted to buid the xr3 hybrid, but by time I would have been done, it probably would have been close to 15 thousand.

 

[Army grunt]

Welcome home docrocky
Army Grunt
If you were in the hosp in vung-tau in 3/67 you may have worked on me

 

[zonta223]

Hi
It is just not worth the cost and effort to convert and old "wreck" into an economical vehicle that will match a modern car economy.
We have a new for Ford Fiesta Econetic that gets around 70mpg with all modern safety and creature comforts you want. air bags/5star safety rating/air con/voice command to computer etc etc etc. More economical and "greener" than the Toyota Prius
Don't know if they are available in your location..........check them out
Bob

 

[easygo]

I talked to this guy and he said it took them a good deal of time and about $14,500 to build this vehicle.

90 miles per gallon? Maine-built three-wheeler shows it?s possible — Maine Business — Bangor Daily News

 

[slowzuki]

Buy an old chevy 3 cyl sprint, they get 50 mpg or so out of the box. The old Jetta diesels do similar. Even the old civic's did pretty well.

My sister had a sprint that she used like a pickup, back seats folded down, always piled full of feed or hay bales or sheep. Great little car.

 

[aczlan]

A diesel VW Rabbit/Jetta will get you ~50MPG and you can get one for under $5k, but make sure that you run the numbers to see how long your payback time would be.
If you go from 12MPG to 50MPG at 20 miles/day, your fuel consumption will drop from 10 gallons per week, to 2.4 gallons per week.

If it cost you $5k for the car (assuming a newer one, older ones are running ~$2k) payback time with gas at $3.50, diesel at $3.75 and 20 miles per day, 6 days a week would be 313 weeks or just over 6 years.
If you got one for $2k payback time would be 125 weeks or 2.4 years.

Aaron Z

 

[Egon]

Moped??

Bicycle??

 

[docrocky]

I have given serious consideration to the bicycle and the 20 mile round trip daily would give my cardiologist overwhelming joy BUT most people around here have no concept that a biker has any right to use a roadway. Also the snow and ice from November to mid March is a bit too challenging for my 75yo bod. Wife refuses to Winter in say South or Southwest, she has daily "personal summers" aka hot flashes in warm weather. I had a cardiac cath and contrast study several years back and after the injection you get "hot" all over, boy, then I could really understand what she and other women folk go thru several times a day.
Rocky

 

[rmully]

If you are not hauling "stuff" every day on your trip you could just find a small car that is cheap to run... save the truck doe when you need it.

 

[wawajake]

I am not sure which engine you have in your 2008 Dodge 1500, but I have a 2008 Dodge 1500 4x4 with the hemi 347 cubic inch , but at speeds below 60 mph ( I find the sweet spot is 55) the 2008 hemi runs on four cylinders and gets almost 20mpg. I would suggest if you have that engine that you try a little slower speed before spending money and insurance etc on another one.

But boy do I wish the truck companies would start selling a medium size pickup truck with a small six cylinder diesel engine ..........the rural pickup owners would lineup for that base model !

 

[jonyyuma]

I had high hopes for a 4cyl B cummins in a dodge truck, but it has been years since they made the announcement of plans?Tough small engine /with turbo and overdrive in dakota size truck should equal good diesel mileage?

 

[Renze]

I had high hopes for a 4cyl B cummins in a dodge truck, but it has been years since they made the announcement of plans?Tough small engine /with turbo and overdrive in dakota size truck should equal good diesel mileage?

That would make a great work truck, but still too much weight and too much frontal area to achieve anywhere near 40mpg.

 

[rjmack]

ford ranger from the mid '80's came with a couple different diesels. not much power but cheap to run. roll over hazard though. fairly scarce.

'95 - 2000 geo metro, firefly, sprint, 3 cyl 5sp got the best mileage. fun to drive too. no protection in an accident, but 60mpg@60mph imperial gallons. avoid the automatics. cheap to fix. also, beware synchro problems, 1-2 3-2 shifts. has the usual sub-compact rough ride.

had a 69 vauxhaul epic, imported by gm that i bought for $50.00... got 40mpg. rollover hazard also.

mid '80's toyota corolla 50+ mpg, probably pick one up (usually rusty) for a few hundred dollars. very tough drive trains. relatively cheap to fix.

avoid mazda rotary engines (notorious gas guzzlers) early toyota hemi's produced good power but not that great mileage.

early '80's cordoba with slant 6 30mpg imperial gallon. can be had for a few hundred dollars.

late '90's chrysler mini vans with 3.0 liter engine 31 mpg imperial. beautiful ride, can be had for well under a thousand. basically a throw away item once the transmission goes out.

if you keep an eye out on your local craigslist would probably be the best bet for something cheap to buy, cheap to run.

you would be amazed what $500.00 will buy you these days.

happy shopping:thumbsup:

 

[aczlan]

ford ranger from the mid '80's came with a couple different diesels. not much power but cheap to run. roll over hazard though. fairly scarce.

If you are talking about the truck I think you are, they were called the Courier. Dad had the Mazda version (identical other than the logos). It was the only car he has ever bought new. He ran it until the frame rotted out and I think it got donated/sold to someone who was taking them down to South America in the mid to late 1990s

Aaron Z

 

[schoolsout]

I own a Jetta TDI ('06) and it is a love/hate relationship...

Love the fuel mileage, but have had to put about $3500 in repairs in it, much of which should have been covered by VW, but not.

----

By the way, a fellow we get to do some work for us personally handled Agent Orange and the Feds came down to check him out as he was still alive and strong...all his buddies from Vietnam were dead. He says the secret to staying alive is to drink all day He does **** good work, too.

 

[Short Game]

Do VW diesels still blow head gasket all the time like the Rabbits did? The secret on them was to over-torque the heads. But, I think VWs are generally junk to start with. I got over them.

 

[schoolsout]

It's a nice car and fit/finish are on par of a BMW 3 series ('06, as far as I can tell, was the last year of the nicer interiors/components). My issues have been EGR valve (It soots up and needs to be replaced...part is $300 and will happen again) which I blocked off (SC doesn't do emissions/Inspections), Automated Manual transmission (DSG Tranny) had a weak Dual Mass Flywheel that ends up trying to come apart and finally, my cam shaft had horrible wear after 100k miles (VW recommends 5w30, but the TDI Gurus recommend 5w40, which I now use)

 

[rjmack]

If you are talking about the truck I think you are, they were called the Courier

1987 FORD RANGER 4x4 2.3L TURBO DIESEL - YouTube

1983 diesel ranger runs again perkins 2.2 - YouTube

The Early Ford Ranger Diesel Engines

from what i understand these were reasonably reliable, not particularly powerful, and not all that many built.

major parts for these engines are evidently getting hard to find.

here's one for sale 1985 Ford Ranger Diesel 4x4

kind of pricey by my estimate

friend of mine had a late '70's or early '80's diesel rabbit, kept blowing the motors up.